Kitchen Essentials, Part 2

You know what?

This doesn't feel right.

When I write these posts and then after I read them....I feel like they're snotty and bossy. Do you feel like that when you read these posts? I don't mean for them to be.....I mean for them to be "sharing" posts. I think this will be my last post on this subject.

So - my kitchen is small. I don't have a lot of gadget-y type items. At one time I was eyein' up that salad dressing measuring thingy from Pampered Chef that Lisa and Cutzi talked about, but I don't have room for everything I want. My kitchen is already overflowing.

Any hoo.... here are a few more things I love. Are you ready?

I would freak If I had this cookware set. Normally there's something missing in every set, but not this one! NO SIR. But it's $2400.00.

I don't know too many people who part with that kind of money up-front for cookware.

But If I could? I'd do it.The two absolute essentials from that set (in my opinion) are the 10 and 12-inch skillets and the 3-quart saute pan (below). Whoops! I guess that's 3 things.My 12-inch skillet is an inexpensive nonstick restaurant style one from Sam's Club. I use it all of the time, but I'd love an All Clad stainless one (not nonstick). I'd never pay big money for nonstick. The nonstick coating doesn't last long enough to justify the cost.

Here's a little secret: If you're patient, you can collect your All Clad from Homegoods or TJ Maxx. MJ and I do it all of the time. MJ got a gorgeous Copper All Clad 3 quart saucepan for $39, I think.

And while I'm on the subject of All Clad.....all of my cookware isn't this brand. My 3 quart saute is Calphalon (I got it free when I worked at a cooking school), but I WISH it were All Clad. There are a few more pieces that are other brands as well, but I'm slowly replacing them with All Clad. In a perfect world we'd all have that $2400.00 set, Internets.

Having said that, People who like to cook can cook in anything. And the test kitchens I work in don't have this stuff.

Pyrex custard cups. 6-oz and 10-oz. I like this brand the best. I have pretty little white ramekins, but they don't stack well. I use the custard cups the most.
Kitchen shears.

4 cup pyrex measuring cup. I use it as a mixing bowl a lot.
Batter Bowl/pyrex 8 cup measuring cup. I also use these as mixing bowls. By the way? I bought an 8-cup Martha Stewart measuring cup from K mart and it's CRAP. Anytime I try to pour something from it, it sprays everywhere.

Microplane grater. I carry this with me when I'm working.

Locking tongs. I've been giving this really cool kind as wedding and shower gifts, but I just have this simple pair from WS. I'm too cheap to buy the cool kind for myself and I'm happy with the ones I've got.

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's worth another mention: The Turn-About from Pampered Chef. Yes - it's not pretty. But sometimes practicality trumps beauty, right?
Right.

An offset spatula. This one is large - but I like the smaller one better. I carry this with me to work, too. You can get them at Target, I think. They're cheap - unlike this one from WS $28. Crazy.

A few things that I don't have but are on my list:

A really nice food mill. I'll never spend the money on this. I want an expensive one and I'd hardly ever use it - I just know it. But, boy, it'd be nice for sauces and perfectly smooth soups.

Pasta machine. I'm always using my pal, Hilary's machine. It's really fun to use. And we do it as a family. Actually, Franklin's Mom gave me a gift certificate to a cookware store and I think I'm going to buy this.

A really nice mandoline with removable blades that can be sharpened. I'll probably never buy this for myself. But I want it. The food processor just doesn't give you the control you need for perfect slices.

Dudes I can't tell you how many times I've bought this book - and never once has it been for myself. MJ and I bought it for the Target Test Kitchen and somebody stole it. It's that good. I've bought it for many a bride - like Michelle! And she loves it, too. Well, it's officially on my list. I will get it in a couple of weeks, I think.

Dude. I wish this thing were as cheap as that cookbook! I'm so glad to be working on a regular basis again! I will buy this ASAP.

Oh sweet JESUS! I know you've never seen this before (Heh.) But it's 30 inches of dual fuel-convection lovliness. If Zuddy ever told me, "Martha, it's me or the stove - you can't have the both of us."

I'd pack for Zuddy's departure and give him a long, loving kiss and pat him on the behind as he left my life forever.

Awwwwww come ON! You know I'm joking. I'd totally try to get him back after a couple of years.

What are YOUR favorite kitchen items?

(All photos are from Williams-Sonoma, Pyrex, Pampered Chef and Amazon.com)

More Things......

Dudes.
I'm totally in love with all of these wallpapers!!!

I taped them up on the wall and I could stand there gazing at them.
All. day. long.
No lie.
And you, my friends, are going to be sick to death of them because I'm going to post pictures of them all the time!



BAM!

Sha-ZAM!

Woo HOOOOOOOOO!!!! WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeee! Yeeeeeee-OW! I lllllllluuuuuuuuurrrrrrrvvvvvve 'em! Wooo!

A-hem.

My poor Noodle stayed home from school yesterday and she's not feeling well again today. The weird thing is: it's bad in the morning, then she's fine a couple of hours later, then she gets to feeling bad a couple more times during the day. Barely a fever, but I can tell she's not feeling well by the way her eyes look. Poor kidd-o.

I made some yummy chili yesterday. From the Best Recipe cookbook.

Do you have this cookbook?

It's a good one. I make a couple of the Asian dishes from there, too. Their beef and broccoli is FAN-tastic. I make that, and then their Spicy Sichuan Noodles with Pork. We make some sticky sushi rice and then bake up some frozen egg rolls from the grocery store and Voila! Big treat. But MESSY. Especially when one doesn't have a working dishwasher.

Hey. Speaking of which: Jen, from The Cottage Nest, asked me if this:

Is a Kitchen Aid brand dishwasher.

It's not. It's a Kenmore Elite. But maybe I should re-think? Jen says she wants a Bosch. Bosch is the way to go...and I've heard that from other people, too. I haven't checked out Consumer Reports yet.

What do you all know about dishwashers out there? C'mon. Share your dishwasher drama with me, friends!

Oh - more stuff. I got the Back To Basics toy catalog the other day. Love their stuff. Know what I want for Christmas?

This!

And This!!!
I totally remember these! I don't know if *I* had them, but I remember playing with them. I think Mrs. Schuno across the street may have had the TV. Wouldn't Franklin love to play with these? Maybe I should get these "for him". But, you know, keep them here at Elizabeth Hill so I can play with them. Errrrr, I mean, take care of them.

Oh! And GnipGnop!!! Remember that?

I tried calling my brother about this:

I think they had this! Evel and Kaptain Robbie!!! He never called me back (loser), I have memories of this toy for some reason.

Have a great day, everyone!

I'm SO Excited!

No. I didn't get this beautiful new dual fuel convection range. But wouldn't that be great???

I'm excited because the first coat of paint is ON!!

I'm loving the color of the gray I chose. It's got some green and brown tones in it and it's very nice. And I just love gray.

But there is a problem: I couldn't get such a dark color in a semi-gloss. Because there's so much pigment in the color I had to get a high gloss and I really didn't want a high gloss. So help me, all of you people who know about this stuff - what do I do? Do I "knock down" the finish with a little steel wool? Should I put a coat of lower gloss poly over it? Discuss......

Our talented friend Kim mentioned poly earlier on in this project because I wanted to do a glaze over the creamy color and the poly would keep the glazing intact. I was thinking I'd go that route since I'm really hard on my kitchen, but now I want to be lazy and cut corners. It's my way. It's what I do. I'm lazy, remember?

Plus, I have a block club meeting at my house on Wednesday night and I'm really striving to have things back in the cupboards (without the doors on) by then.

I was going to cancel it, but ......we've had some "events" in the neighborhood the past week and I need to have the meeting.

See, we live in the "hood".

It's usually pretty quiet here and our neighborhood is considered "the next big thing", but it's been 11 years and it's still hasn't become "the next big thing". In fact, we've had a couple of shootings in the last week. Gang related. There's a big meeting with the Police Commander and the Mayor at our library on Monday (incidentally, the Mayor lives in our neighborhood.). So I really think I need to have this meeting. It's already scheduled, anyway.

We were at a family party on Saturday to meet my cousin's (who currently lives in Tennessee) new baby. Boy is he a cutie pie. 3 months old and absolutely gorgeous. And I forgot to take a picture. Anyway, my aunt told me that my cousin's family is moving back to the midwest and they looked at a house in my neighborhood, "but everything's so expensive here!" To which Zuddy says, "Well, have them check on it again - I'll bet the price just went down." Ha ha. So we had to tell them about the recent "events".

In other news, the Noodle has lost the second of her top two teeth!! How exciting!

I hope everyone's having a great weekend!